If you know your way around Cle Elum, you can always find Ross, the Forest Service guy that has ran the Blewett Groomer since 1985! He's at a certain business establishment on a daily basis. Here's his version:
He had another operator riding with him, had gone up past the Avy slide area and the weather just continued to get worse. He headed down in "white-out" conditions, couldn't see, got maybe a foot off the trail and went over the edge. His death grip on the controls totally riped them out of the console. On the way down, they hit several boulders and the groomer came to a rest on a boulder.
His concern is the boulder and/or the ripped out controls may have done serious damage to the groomer.
The plan is: In the next 2 days, 2 D-6 cats will come in to winch it out. The cost: Well, they started groomimg late, so maybe those funds will pay for the "tow" and life goes on as normal.
The unknown: Was any damage done on the trip over the edge.
Regardless, anyone traveling thru CE, needs to stop in and buy him a drink if you know where to go......
He had another operator riding with him, had gone up past the Avy slide area and the weather just continued to get worse. He headed down in "white-out" conditions, couldn't see, got maybe a foot off the trail and went over the edge. His death grip on the controls totally riped them out of the console. On the way down, they hit several boulders and the groomer came to a rest on a boulder.
His concern is the boulder and/or the ripped out controls may have done serious damage to the groomer.
The plan is: In the next 2 days, 2 D-6 cats will come in to winch it out. The cost: Well, they started groomimg late, so maybe those funds will pay for the "tow" and life goes on as normal.
The unknown: Was any damage done on the trip over the edge.
Regardless, anyone traveling thru CE, needs to stop in and buy him a drink if you know where to go......
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